The Days I Call Beautiful
by shasarazade
Summary: Ever wonder how Apple got her glasses? Find out when she says her farewell to Seika before helping out Viktor in his mercenary. Happens before Highland takes over the mercenary fort. Slight GSII spoilers.


The entrance to the village was no lavish welcome. If you were there, you would've encounter a waist-length wooden gate, made out of oak and held together with straw. It was not at all big. In fact, you can easily climb over it if it is such a hassle for you to push it open. A simple entrance, and it has been standing there for as far as this young girl of 18 can remember. It has fallen, separated, detached from its hinges, corroded, eroded and nonetheless damaged over the years. But the villagers always found a way to repair the worn-out gate. And through the years, it has been scarred with notches and graffiti. A useless gate. But the villagers didn't care. They couldn't bear to be separated from their precious gate.  
  
Before entering this village, Apple stopped a while and read the numerous graffiti marked on the gate. Names, dates, teases and such…Apple traced these well-carved words with one slender finger. She was looking for something.  
  
"Here!" she whispered, talking to no one in particular. Written on the upper right-hand side of the gate, were 3 words carved by a young child of about 11 years.  
  
1 Apple loves Shu  
  
Apple stared at those words for a few minutes, and let out a loud laugh. She wrote them.  
  
Still giggling like mad when she entered the village, Apple walked the familiar streets of Seika. This is where she was raised, and she loved this little village more than any other place in the world. While walking in random directions, she watched children play, women gossip, men work and young girls…well…doing their thing. She observed the houses and studied each of them a while. "Yup…" Apple said to herself. "It looks the same. It smells the same. It sounds the same…" until a thought struck her.  
  
But is it still the same?  
  
"It isn't," Apple decided. It's been through a lot over the past few years. All because of war. War, war, war. Apple hated wars. Although she was taught military strategy under Mathiu Silverburg, she still detested the thought of war. Seika was one of the villages that were greatly damaged in the war between the Scarlet Moon Empire and the City-State of Jowston. That war ruined this village. That war was the cause of her parent's death. That war ruined her.  
  
"But if it weren't for that stupid war…." Apple thought as she made her way to the big house on the elevated plain "I wouldn't have met Master Mathiu and…Shu…". After her parents died, she was taken in by Mathiu and was given a scholarship to study under him along with Shu. Yep, she was grateful for that war in a figurative, somewhat selfish way.  
  
But still…"Another war is coming," Apple said through gritted teeth as she quickened her pace. She just received news that the Mad Prince of Highland destroyed a village in the City State, and that her friends Flik and Viktor were mercenaries fighting against him. "Flik and Viktor…they're too tactless to handle it without a strategist," Apple mumbled, then blushed. "Then again…I'm barely a strategist…"  
  
Apple kept her ponderings to herself as she made her way to the house. It was the biggest house in the village, owned by Mathiu Silverburg. Apple loved this house, because it became practically her home. It is full of beautiful memories, although some were sad. She won't be seeing this house for a long, long time. In fact, Apple came to say good-bye to it, her home. She removed her glasses to dab a few tears from her eyes when she stopped to admire the structure before her.  
  
Her glasses. Apple suddenly remembered that it was in this very house that she found the reason to wear those round-rimmed glasses. She laughed when this occurred to her. It is a very funny story, really. And Shu was the person behind it all.  
  
Shu, being the genius that he is, was mildly interested in chemistry. Apple remembered that she enjoyed watching him mix various substances. It created very beautiful colors, in her opinion. Apple, being the feminine, whimsical one, enjoyed music, colors, nature, art and everything beautiful and for her, this was its very definition. And some even smelled good. "How did you make it smell so good?" Young Apple asked him during their break time when he was mixing another fragrant substance. " I have no idea," Shu said blankly, appparently too caught up in his work. Apple paused, starting intently at the very serious Shu. She loved that particular scent he was making that day. It sort of reminded her of…something. Or someone. She didn't really know. He, unable to concentrate, shot an angry glare at the young girl and said in a half-shout, "Do you mind not staring at me? I know you love the smell of my work but you're bothering me! Go play with Aya or something!"  
  
Apple hated being shouted at, as was so taken aback that she was close to tears. "I…I'm sorry…" Apple said, her lower lip quivering "B-But…the smell…it reminds me…o-of…mommy…" Yes, she remembers now. It was like the perfume of her late mother. The familiar fragrance Apple knew everytime her mother cuddled her in her arms. The feeling she would never experience again…This made her cry.  
  
Shu froze for a second and stared at Apple. By that time, she was crying her eyes out and uttering inaudible words. "I'm sorry, dear," Shu said soothingly (Mathiu will kill him if he finds out) "Here, do you want to try it on?" He suggested, hoping it would stop her crying.  
  
It worked. Apple looked up with those watery brown eyes and exclaimed, "Yes!". Shu smiled- he rarely smiled- in relief and took out a spray bottle. "Here, spray some on your wrist". But unfortunately unnoticed by the pair of them, the spray was aiming towards her eyes. And so, when Apple pressed the spray…well…we all know what happened after that.  
  
Although her eyes weren't damaged that much, and she could still see, Apple's vision was blurred. She needed glasses. And so she got them. Mathiu was upset with Shu ("You are not supposed bring young children near these strong chemicals. You are not even allowed to have them in the first place!) more than Apple that he (Mathiu) asked Shu to throw away his precious experiments. Apple was so guilt-stricken and avoided Shu for days.  
  
And so that was the story. Apple (the present one) smiled to herself as she made her way to the backyard of Mathiu's house. That memory never ceased to make her smile. After that scary, she remembered, Shu was relatively nicer to Apple. One day, he even gave Apple a rune crystal:  
  
Young Apple loved runes, and Shu knew that. This particular rune crystal was cylindrical in shape and it had a liquid of various colors in it. It swirled and mixed and blended with each other that Apple fell in love with it. "Thank you, Shu!" the young Apple exclaimed. Shu smiled (yet one of his once-in-a-blue-moon smiles) at her "That's the least I can do. After all, I did permanently damage your eyes. Are you sure you can still see?"  
  
"Yup!" said the estatic young Apple. "Come with me Shu!" Apple yanked Shu's hand and dragged him to the back yard. She made her way to a big oak tree, knelt before it and began to dig a hole on the ground..  
  
"What is that?" Shu asked, while trying to catch his breath.  
  
"This is my secret place! I put all of my favorite things here! Here is a doll Daddy made for me!" Apple exclaimed proudly. "And here is a ribbon I used to wear when I was younger. See? I keep my savings here too!" She held up 10 potch. "It's not much though…I'm placing this crystal here!"  
  
"Why? What for?" Shu, who was highly amused, asked.  
  
"So I won't ever loose it! Besides, Aya might get it!" Apple paused for a while and looked up at him, "You will keep this a secret, will you?"  
  
Shu patted her head "I won't," he reassured her. "Hurry up and place it there, I hear Master Mathiu call us."  
  
Apple sighed. She surely missed the brotherly love of Shu. Being in Mathiu's house made her remember the best and worst parts of her life. But even though Mathiu isn't alive anymore, even if Shu isn't there to take care of her anymore, she knew, somehow, that she would always have a home here. In Seika. "This is home…"Apple sighed happily as she passed an old mahogany tree. Then stopped.  
  
She stared at the tree…  
  
THE tree…  
  
"The tree!" it struck her. Apple started digging furiously on the soil. She was losing face, and this was bad for her image. Her clothes were stained and her hands were tired. But she didn't care. She needed to find that rune.  
  
And she did, after a few painstaking minutes. She held it up in the sun. It created lovely colors in midair, like a rainbow. "Beautiful…" Apple gushed. She twirled it around, feeling it, inspecting it, missing the touch she could barely remember. Then she noticed a small, clear button on the upper left-hand corner of the crystal. Curiously, she pressed it. Instantly, the crystal sprayed a multi-colored liquid that hit her glasses, misting her view. Impatiently, Apple removed her glasses. Then it filled the air. And it struck her (how many times has she been struck? No idea).  
  
Shu didn't give a rune.  
  
He gave her the perfume.  
  
Apple just froze there, kneeling on the ground, her vision blurred. She didn't feel it, and she might not even mean it, but tears started streaming unconsciously down her face. Shu was so sweet, kind, gentle to her…she didn't know if she deserved it at all. Then she just burst out in hysterical laughter. For a split second, Apple thought she was going mad. But she wasn't. She was just happy. Happy to have Shu…  
  
Apple placed the perfume in her purse and headed towards the worn-out gate. When she swung the gate open to let herself out of Seika, her eyes fell on those familiar words she wrote 7 years ago. "I do love Shu…in a way" she thought. She smiled at the words. In a few moments, she is off to a new adventure. An adventure she swore never to get involved with. War…the cold, cold war. But somehow, she felt that the two most important people in her life would be with her in this great adventure. Hopefully they would make it a little less cold for her. Maybe she would encounter Shu in the war, maybe not. She didn't know. But who knows? God does.  
  
Apple took out the perfume again and sprayed some on her wrist. This time it hit her nowhere near the eyes. It smelled so nostalgic, almost tragic. But she loved it. Then with one last look at Mathiu's old house, she smiled and closed the rotten gate behind her. 


End file.
